Sexpohrenia Strikes Danbury Courthouse

If you are going to stand up in the well of the court and demand accountability on behalf of the people of the State of Connecticut from some poor schmuck charged with a crime, you ought at least to be accountable yourself. But in the Danbury State’s Attorney’s Office, accountability is a twisted joke.

It appears there are special rules for prosecutors. They get a pass when their actions cross certain lines. Consider the case of the man who loved feet, women’s feet to be exact. What’s a little fetishism among friends?

Oh, I know, I know. It might not be a violation of the law for a prosecutor to go to work each day armed with a secret spy camera in one of his pens. Yeah, go right ahead Mr. Minister of Justice, and take a few sneak shots of all the ladies’ feet and legs. Check out that defendant? She’s hot, huh? And what about the legs on that lawyer? Hubba, hubba. And would you get a load of those judicial arches?

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am creeped out by what I am reading about Senior State’s Attorney David Holzbach. If what has been reported is true, he needs help and has no business in the well of court. Why I might fire an employee of mine who engaged in such conduct on the job. Wouldn’t you?

The state’s top prosecutors are apparently not too troubled by such behavior, and they have not been troubled by it for decades. Danbury, a veritable fortress of rectitude in the prosecution of sex crimes, has a soft spot for the libidinal vagaries of folks working in its office. Press reports reflect that a veteran prosecutor in the office has long been known to have an unusual interest in females in the building. He’s apparently been sent home without pay for playing James Bond with a foot fetish.

Can you hear them calling for accountability in the Hat City? The chant goes something like this: Come out, come out, wherever you are.

Watching Danbury State’s Attorney Stephen Sedensky and Chief State’s Attorney Kevin Kane dawdle and pussyfoot around on this matter gives new meaning to the old quip about the feckless fearing what nude photos may be in the possession of the cat allowed to escape with the canary. When asked for information by the press, they claim they cannot talk about it. It is a personal matter, they say. When reached at home to comment, Holzbach reports he hasn’t any idea why he’s been sent home on leave. Really?

I do business in that courthouse and I suspect this piece will not earn me any favors there. But, then again, I wasn’t asking for any in the first instance. Let me just come out and say it: What in the world is going on in Danbury? Does anyone care?

I know the rap about sex offenders. They operate furtively, always hiding their sins, lest the world know what inspires them. Driven by shame, their lust drives them to ever greater outrages. Beware the preoccupied man unable to make eye contact. Beware the hunched shoulders. Beware silent predator claiming righteousness but hiding a multitude of sins. Or maybe just beware Danbury. Maybe they’re so hot to trot about the prosecution of sex crimes because there are unresolved issues smoldering beneath justice’s facade.

An enterprising Title VII lawyer might sport in Danbury’s halls of justice. Was the work environment hostile while a favored colleague and friend pranced the halls doing the fetishist’s leer? Did management know and do nothing? Were there complaints that were swept up under the rug and ignored?

I first heard about this investigation months ago from a courthouse gossip. When I brought it up in a pre-trial and wondered whether the controversy would erupt during jury selection in a sex case I was trying, I was met with an awkward sort of silence. No one denied the truth of what I was told.

Disgust about sums up my take on the State’s Attorney’s Office just now. There are good people working there, don’t get me wrong. But the next time some prosecutor starts chest-thumping accountability and righteousness, I’m going to be paying special attention to whether they leave stains on their chest.

Reprinted courtesy of the Connecticut Law Tribune.

Comments (1)

Posted on August 6, 2012 at 9:14 pm by Portia

sexpohrenia

do as I say, not as I do. typical pick and choose...do you really think they'd want to "make an example" of one of their own?

About Norm Pattis

Norm Pattis is a Connecticut based trial lawyer focused on high stakes criminal cases and civil right violations. He is a veteran of more than 100 jury trials, many resulting in acquittals for people charged with serious crimes, multi-million dollar civil rights and discrimination verdicts, and scores of cases favorably settled.

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